AMUEL CLEMENS was better known by his pen name: Mark Twain. His daughter married a famous pianist and conductor named OSSIP GABRILOWITSCH, who studied with (among others) Anton Rubinstein, Glazunov, Medtner, and Leschetizky. Gabrilowitsch was arrested (!) at the outbreak of World War I as an “enemy national.” He was released from jail thanks to ARCHBISHOP EUGENIO PACELLI, a.k.a. Pope Pius XII. In any event, Mark Twain once wrote: “There’s no such thing as an uninteresting life, such a thing is an impossibility. Beneath the dullest exterior, there is a drama, a comedy, a tragedy.”
Consequences Not Considered • The ‘interior’ life (to follow upon what Mark Twain said) of a church musician who takes his work seriously is not easy. It can be lonely and discouraging. Furthermore, the post-conciliar reformers—without realizing the enormous consequences of their actions—added thousands of texts that, throughout the Church’s entire history, had never been set to music. Then (in spite of what Vatican II had ordered) everybody started doing Mass in the vernacular … with the result that all of a sudden millions of new compositions had to be created for each language.
Unity At Your Parish? • How can the competent choirmaster unify music at a parish that offers Mass in English, Latin, Spanish, Vietnamese, and other languages? Answer the following four (4) questions and let me know what you think of my approach.
Question One:
Sing through the OFFERTORY ANTIPHON for last Sunday’s English Mass. (It isn’t necessary to sing through each verse—just the antiphon itself.) Now sing through the OFFERTORY ANTIPHON for last Sunday’s Mass in Spanish. Do you notice anything?
Question Two:
Sing through last Sunday’s COMMUNION ANTIPHON in English. (Don’t sing through the verses—just the antiphon itself.) Having done that, sing through last Sunday’s COMMUNION ANTIPHON in Spanish. Díco vóbis íterum: Do you notice anything? Think carefully about the melody.
Question Three:
Take a look at the OPENING HYMN for last Sunday’s English Mass. Then examine the RECESSIONAL for last Sunday’s English Mass. Now take a look at the OPENING HYMN for the Spanish Mass:
Question Four:
Examine last Sunday’s COMMUNION SONG for the English Mass. Having done that, sing through last Sunday’s COMMUNION SONG for the Spanish Mass:
Again, I hope you’ll let me know what you think of this approach!
